Welcome to The Pregame Lineup, postseason edition! We'll keep you up to speed on everything you need to know every weekday throughout the 2025 MLB playoffs. Thanks for being here. Dodgers vs. Phillies. Cubs vs. Brewers. It's NLDS Game 2 -- times two -- tonight, and both Philadelphia and Chicago face the same task in their respective series: avoid falling behind two games to none.
As the home team, the Phils are perhaps under more pressure to win Game 2. Under the current 2-2-1 Division Series format, just two clubs -- the 2001 Yankees and the 2015 Blue Jays -- have come back to win a series after losing the first two games at home.
That said, the Cubs should be feeling the weight of history, too. Overall, teams taking a 2-0 lead in a best-of-five series have gone on to win 80 of 90 times (88.9%) in MLB postseason history. So even with the series moving to Wrigley Field after tonight, the Cubs will still be facing an uphill climb if they drop Game 2 in Milwaukee.
Ahead of tonight's action, here's a look at one storyline that could define each game. (You can also check out a breakdown of both games from our own Will Leitch here.)
Dodgers at Phillies (6:08 p.m. ET on TBS, truTV, HBO Max)
Who will come out ahead in the left-on-left showdown?
Tonight's starting pitcher matchup features a pair of southpaws who have dominated left-handed hitters during their careers, with the Dodgers sending Blake Snell to the hill and the Phillies countering with Jesús Luzardo. But these aren't just any lefty hitters they'll be facing tonight.
Snell will have to deal with Kyle Schwarber and Bryce Harper, while Luzardo will be up against Shohei Ohtani and Freddie Freeman, all among the most dangerous lefties when hitting without the platoon advantage.
Cubs at Brewers (9:08 p.m. ET on TBS, truTV, HBO Max)
What's Chourio's status?
While the Brewers topped the Cubs, 9-3, in Game 1, Jackson Chourio's early exit due to a right hamstring injury cast a shadow over Milwaukee's dominant performance and left questions about how the young outfielder's health could affect the rest of the series.
Granted, if any team is capable of overcoming an injury to one of its best players, it's the Brewers, with their deep and well-rounded roster. If Chourio is forced to miss time, the Brewers will be able to turn to Isaac Collins, a top contender for the NL Rookie of the Year Award, to replace him. -- Thomas Harrigan |
TREY'S WILD POSTSEASON RIDE |
The Blue Jays rookie who just stunned the Yankees in Game 2 of the ALDS had a meteoric rise to his big moment. If it wasn't cool enough that Trey Yesavage made history with 5 1/3 innings of no-hit, 11-strikeout ball in his first career postseason start yesterday, just look at the journey he took to get there. The 22-year-old was drafted just over a year ago. He was in Single-A this season. And he made only three Major League starts before he joined Toronto's playoff rotation. Yesavage pitched at every step of the Minors in 2025 -- Single-A, High-A, Double-A and Triple-A -- and still made it to the big leagues just in time for the Jays' playoff run. That's five levels of baseball in one year. His journey took him from the Dunedin Blue Jays to the Vancouver Canadians to the New Hampshire Fisher Cats to the Buffalo Bisons before he finally reached Toronto. In April, Yesavage was pitching against the Lakeland Flying Tigers. In May, against the Hillsboro Hops. In June and July, the Hartford Yard Goats and Portland Sea Dogs. In August and September, the Lehigh Valley IronPigs and Rochester Red Wings. And now, in October, he's beating the New York Yankees. Oh, and one of the most fun tidbits about all of this? Before he faced the real Bronx Bombers, Yesavage pitched against both the Yankees' Double-A and Triple-A affiliates this season … and allowed seven total runs in 7 1/3 innings. Then he faced the big league squad and did what he did. How about that. -- David Adler |
FLYING OFF INTO THE SUNSET |
Brett Phillips was one of a kind, a player who transcended statistics with his pure, unbridled joy for playing baseball. A career .187 hitter in seven MLB seasons, he never forgot how lucky he was to play a kids' game for a living, and his infectious attitude struck a chord with fans who lived vicariously through him.
Phillips, who announced his retirement with an Instagram post on Sunday, first drew us in with his trademark laugh. Once he started, he just couldn't seem to stop, and his teammates loved to get him going. Of course, he'll be best remembered for his only postseason hit, which not only led his Rays to a walk-off win in Game 4 of the 2020 World Series, but also initiated one of the wildest plays -- and celebrations -- in Fall Classic history.
Fittingly, Phillips saved his most powerful hit for an 8-year-old fan who was battling cancer -- while she was being interviewed and after he'd promised to do something special while wearing bracelets she'd gifted to him. Brian Murphy wraps a bow on the unlikely career of a true original. -- Ed Eagle |
'Tis the postseason to be bat flipping, and the Blue Jays have a flair for it. When it comes to bat flips, José Bautista's mighty heave that sealed the Blue Jays' ALDS Game 5 clincher over the Rangers in 2015 is the gold standard. But Vladimir Guerrero Jr.'s nonchalant flick to punctuate the first playoff slam in Toronto history deserves its own category of a bat-flip mic drop. (Or maybe that flip was to let his dad know that they're tied in career postseason homers with two.) When you watch it side by side, there may be no topping Bautista's bat flip for the greatest in MLB history, but Vlad Jr.'s is the early contender for the best flip of the 2025 postseason. |
There may be no force in the universe powerful enough to stop the Erie Moon Mammoths. Now, the Moon Mammoths have made it to Cooperstown. The Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum has a John Oliver-signed Moon Mammoths jersey on display. A placard next to the jersey reads: "On July 19, 2025, the Double-A Erie SeaWolves debuted as the Moon Mammoths. The unusual nickname came about thanks to John Oliver, who chose the club as the winner of a rebranding contest he announced on his HBO show, 'Last Week Tonight with John Oliver.' The comedian wore this jersey as he threw the first pitch to honor the club's alter ego." Along with the jersey, Oliver donated a signed cap and Erie's giveaway item from the July 19 game – a Moon Mammoths squishy toy. The jersey was Oliver's No. 91, worn as he performed myriad duties during that game, from throwing out the first pitch to broadcasting to working in concessions. Why No. 91 on that jersey? It was in 1991 that an Erie-area citizen named George Moon was scuba diving in nearby Lake Pleasant and discovered the shoulder blade of a wooly mammoth, and 80% of that mammoth's skeleton was recovered. That incident inspired Oliver and company to come up with the Moon Mammoths moniker. It may not be like a real-life mammoth in a natural history museum, but this is as good as the original. -- Josh Jackson |
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